A rotary guiding device

ABSTRACT

A rotary guiding device comprises a rotating shaft, the rotating shaft is used to drive a tool head to rotate, and the rotating shaft includes at least one steerable portion; a first non-rotating body and a second non-rotating body, the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body are substantially in a non-rotating state in a circumferential direction thereof relative to the rotating shaft when the rotating shaft drives the tool head to rotate; a guide driving mechanism, the guide driving mechanism is configured to connect the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body, the guide driving mechanism is adapted to generate a substantially axial driving force to change the relative direction between the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body, thereby changing the orientation of the tool head.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to the field of drilling, and more particularly to a rotary guiding device that controls drilling guidance.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY

In order to obtain natural resources storaged underground, drilling exploration is required. In many cases, the wellbore and the derrick are not aligned, but need to form a certain offset or bend. This process of forming horizontal or vertical offsets or other types of complex holes is called directional drilling. In the process of directional drilling, the direction control of the drill bit is called guidance. Modern directional drilling has two types: sliding guidance and rotary guidance. The drill string does not rotate when sliding guiding drilling; the bottom hole power drill (turbine drill, screw drill) drives the drill bit to rotate. The screw drilling tool and part of the drill string and the centralizer can only slide up and down against the well wall. Its shortcomings are large friction, effective weight-on-bit, low torque and power, low drilling rate, the wellbore spiralled and unsmooth and unclean, poor quality, easy to accident, and often forced to start the drill disc with “composite drilling”, and “composite drilling” is often limited to use. The limit depth of sliding guidance is less than 4000 m. In order to change the orientation of the hole, it is necessary to change the structure of the drill string. Rotary steerable drilling system is the rotary drive of the drill string, the drill string and the rotary guiding tool are rolled on the well wall, and the rolling friction resistance is small. The rotary steerable drilling system can control and adjust its slanting and orienting function during drilling, and can complete the slanting, increasing the slope, stabilizing the slope and descending the slope along with the drilling process, and the friction is small, the torque is small, the drilling speed is high, larger drill bit penetration, the aging is high, the cost is low, and the well shaft is easy to control. With a limit of 15 km, it is a new type of weapon for drilling complex structural wells and offshore oil systems and super-large displacement wells (10 km).

There are also two commonly used rotary guiding technologies, one is a directional guidance and the other is a push-oriented guidance. The Chinese authorized patent CN104619944B obtained by the American company Halliburton discloses a directional guiding tool, which provides modular actuators, guiding tools and rotary steerable drilling systems, the modular actuator includes a barrel portion, and the modular actuator is configured to be coupled to an outer circumference of the outer casing. The accumulator is housed in the barrel portion, and a hydraulically actuated actuator is slidably disposed within the barrel portion, the actuator is moveable between an activated position and an inactive position such that the actuator piston selectively squeezes the ramped surface of the drive shaft to change the direction of the drill string. The U.S. patent application US20140209389A1 discloses a rotary guiding tool, which comprises a non-rotating sleeve, a rotating shaft comprising a deflectable unit, the deflection unit being deflected by controlling the circumferential position of the eccentric bushing, thereby adjusting the drilling direction of the drill bit. Another type of rotary steering technique, namely push-oriented rotary guidance technology, is disclosed in US Patent Application No. US20170107762A1, it includes a pushing member disposed around the drill pipe and a hydraulic drive system for driving the pushing member, and the hydraulic drive system selectively drives the pushing member to move between the abutment position and the non-push position, in the abutment position, the pushing member can push against the the wall of the well in a slapping way to generate guiding force and change the direction of the drilling hole.

Both the directional guidance and the push-oriented guidance have their own characteristics. Generally speaking, the slope of the directional guidance is relatively stable, which is less affected by the drilling pressure and formation conditions, but the limit value of the slope is low, and it is difficult to meet the requirements when a high build-up rate is required. Relatively speaking, the slope of the push-oriented guidance is not stable, and it is greatly affected by the drilling pressure and formation conditions, when the drilling pressure is low and the hardness of the formation is appropriate, the slope is large, and the well trajectory can be quickly adjusted, however, the guiding ability is reduced when the soft formation is encountered.

In addition, the difficulty of measurement and control, and the problem of the energy consumption in the underground are also very important. On the one hand, when the downhole component rotates with the drill pipe, it will cause difficulty in measuring the corresponding component, which is a problem that cannot be ignored, and how to make data measurement simple is an important issue; On the other hand, underground energy is mainly from mud power generation, in addition to ensuring the operation of the electronic components downhole, it is also necessary to provide the energy required to guide the drive, and it is also important to provide a guided drive with as low power as possible.

Therefore, the prior art requires a high build-up rate provided by a rotary guiding drive technology while drilling to reduce the control difficulty.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the above problems, the invention proposes a rotary guiding device, the rotary guiding device comprises a rotating shaft, the rotating shaft is used to drive a tool head to rotate, and the rotating shaft includes at least one steerable portion; a first non-rotating body and a second non-rotating body, the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body are substantially in a non-rotating state in a circumferential direction thereof relative to the rotating shaft when the rotating shaft drives the tool head to rotate; a guide driving mechanism, the guide driving mechanism is configured to connect the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body, the guide driving mechanism is adapted to generate a substantially axial driving force to change the relative direction between the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body, thereby changing the orientation of the tool head.

Preferably, the steerable portion includes a universal transmission member or a flexible shaft.

Preferably, the guide driving mechanism includes at least three hydraulic drive mechanisms that are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction.

Preferably, the guide driving mechanism is further adapted to generate a substantially radial driving force to change the relative direction between the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body, thereby changing the orientation of the tool head.

Preferably, the guide driving mechanism comprises at least three pushing members, each one of the pushing members is adapted to move in a radial direction of the rotating shaft to push against the wall of the well, thereby changing the orientation of the tool head.

Preferably, the guide driving mechanism includes a first piston cylinder disposed in the first non-rotating body and a second piston cylinder disposed in the second non-rotating body, the first piston cylinder and the second piston cylinder are connected by a connecting rod, and the second piston cylinder is adapted to drive the pushing member to move.

Preferably, the connecting rod is respectively hinged with the first piston cylinder and the second piston cylinder, one end of the second piston cylinder is connected to the connecting rod, and the other end of the second piston cylinder is connected to the pushing member.

For another, the present application also proposes a hybrid rotary guiding device, the hybrid rotary guiding device comprises:

a rotating shaft, the rotating shaft is used to drive a tool head to rotate, and the rotating shaft includes at least one steerable portion;

a first non-rotating body and a second non-rotating body, the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body are substantially in a non-rotating state in a circumferential direction thereof relative to the rotating shaft when the rotating shaft drives the tool head to rotate;

both inside of the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body are provided with piston cylinders; each one of the piston cylinder in the first non-rotating body and each one of the piston cylinder in the second non-rotating body are respectively hinged to both ends of a connecting rod; the piston cylinder disposed in the second non-rotating body is adapted to drive some pushing members to move between a first position and a second position, in the second position, the resultant force of the pushing members pushing against the well wall generates a first guiding force, and the resultant force of the connecting rods acting on the second non-rotating body generates a second guiding force.

Through the rotary guiding device proposed by the present application: On the one hand, the measurement control difficulty of the control system can be reduced, and the force applying member can realize the movement by using a common hydraulic driving method, in the direction control, the rotary guiding device in the present application can also independently control the direction of the guiding bit without being affected by the rotation of the drill pipe; On the other hand, the two non-rotating body based on the rotary guiding devices proposed by the present application can provide a larger range of selectable build-up rate in the hybrid guiding mode to meet different formation requirements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings described herein are intended to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are intended to be a part of this invention. The schematic embodiments of this invention and their descriptions are used to interpret this invention and do not constitute an undue limitation of this invention. In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a rotary guiding device according to the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a rotary guiding device according to the second embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to explain the overall concept of the present invention more clearly, the following detailed description is illustrated by way of example with reference to the attached drawings. It should be noted that, in this context, relational terms such as “first” and “second” are used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and it is not necessary to require or imply that there is such an actual relationship or order between these entities or operations.

Furthermore, the terms “including”, “comprising” or any other similar description is intended to cover a non-exclusive contain, which leads to a series of processes, methods, objects, or equipment not only include the elements listed in the context, but also include other elements which is not listed in the context, or the inherent elements of the processes, methods, objects, or equipment. In the absence of further restrictions, elements defined by the statement “including one” are not excluded from the inclusion, but include other identical elements.

The rotary guiding device disclosed herein relates to application scenarios for oilfield drilling or other exploration drilling. Other system components associated with rotary guiding device, such as derrick systems, powertrains, and signaling systems, are not described extensively here.

The First Embodiment

As shown in FIG. 1, the embodiment proposes a rotary guiding device. In this embodiment, the rotary guiding device is generally a directional rotary guiding device. Specifically, the guiding device includes a rotating shaft 1, one end of the rotating shaft 1 is connected to the power system, and the other end of the rotating shaft 1 is connected to the tool head 5, and the rotating shaft 1 drives the tool head 5 to rotate to realize drilling of the stratum. During the drilling process, the upper centralizer 9 and the lower centralizer 8 cooperate to provide the drilling assembly with a righting force that enables it to remain stable. The rotating shaft 1 includes at least one steerable portion 4. In the process of driving the tool head to rotate, the steerable portion 4 is capable of transmitting torque, and on the other hand, the steerable portion 4 provides conditions for guiding the tool head. In particular, the steerable portion 4 can provide a degree of freedom of steering within a certain range of cone angle relative to the rotating shaft, and the size of the cone angle depends on the build-up rate of the guiding device, and the higher the build-up rate is, the larger the range of cone angle of the steerable portion 4 will be.

The rotary guiding device also includes a first non-rotating body 2 and a second non-rotating body 3, the first non-rotating body 2 and the second non-rotating body 3 are substantially in a non-rotating state in a circumferential direction thereof relative to the rotating shaft 1 when the rotating shaft 1 drives the tool head 5 to rotate. The first non-rotating body 2 is mounted on the rotating shaft 1 through the bearing 10, and the second non-rotating body 3 is mounted on the rotating shaft 1 through the bearing 11. When the rotating shaft 1 rotates, the first non-rotating body 2 and the second non-rotating body 3 are substantially stationary in the circumferential direction. Strictly speaking, the first non-rotating body 2 and the second non-rotating body 3 are rotated at a lower speed by the slight frictional force of the rotating shaft 1.

The rotary guiding device also includes a guide driving mechanism, the guide driving mechanism is configured to connect the first non-rotating body 2 and the second non-rotating body 3, the guide driving mechanism is adapted to generate a substantially axial driving force to change the relative direction between the first non-rotating body 2 and the second non-rotating body 3, thereby changing the orientation of the tool head. As shown in FIG. 1, the first non-rotating body 2 and the second non-rotating body 3 are respectively disposed on both sides of the steerable portion 4, during the rotation guidance, the guide driving mechanism outputs the axial driving force with the first non-rotating body 2 located on the left side of the steerable portion 4 as a seat. When the axial driving force does not coincide with the axis of the rotating shaft 1, the axial driving force is transmitted from the second non-rotating body 3 to a portion of the rotating shaft located on the right side of the steerable portion 4, and then a torque with the steerable portion 4 as a fulcrum is generated to realize the rotational guidance.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the steerable portion 4 is realized as a universal transmission member. The universal transmission member is located substantially in an intermediate position between the two non-rotating bodies. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the steerable portion 4 can also be realized by other forms, such as setting a part of the rotating shaft 1 as a flexible shaft.

In a preferred embodiment not shown in detail in FIG. 1, the guide driving mechanism comprises at least three hydraulic driving mechanisms 6, and the at least three hydraulic driving mechanisms 6 are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction. Each hydraulic driving mechanism 6 includes a connecting rod 6-1, a slider 6-2, a piston 6-3, and a hydraulic chamber 6-4. The liquid in the hydraulic chamber 6-4 is used to drive the piston 6-3 to move, thereby driving the slider 6-2 and the connecting rod 6-1 to move. The left side of the connecting rod 6-1 is hinged to the slider 6-2, and the right side of the connecting rod 6-1 is hinged to the second non-rotating body 3. The first non-rotating body 2 further includes a hydraulic unit 7 and a circuit cavity 12.

The aforementioned axial driving force is generated by the resultant force of the at least three hydraulic driving mechanisms 6, for example, the guide driving mechanism may include three hydraulic driving mechanisms 6, and the adjacent two hydraulic driving mechanisms are separated by 120 degrees. The driving force of the three hydraulic driving mechanisms 6 is optionally varied between 0-F, it will be understood that the three hydraulic driving mechanisms can respectively generate a certain torque to the second non-rotating body 3 with respect to the steerable portion 4, the sum of the torques generated by the three hydraulic driving mechanisms is the actual guide driving torque, which is 0-360 degrees in the direction of the cross section of the rotating shaft. In the guiding process, with respect to the rotation of the rotating shaft, both the first non-rotating body 2 and the second non-rotating body 3 are substantially in a stationary state, thus, the data measurement for both of them becomes more convenient.

The Second Embodiment

As shown in FIG. 2, as a preferred embodiment, the second embodiment proposes a hybrid rotary guiding device, what is different from the first embodiment is that the guide driving mechanism in this embodiment is further adapted to generate a substantially radial driving force to change the relative direction between the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body, thereby changing the orientation of the tool head.

In a preferred embodiment not shown in detail in FIG. 2, the guiding drive mechanism comprises at least three pushing members, each pushing member 8 is adapted to move in the radial direction of the rotating shaft to push against the well wall to change the direction of the tool head. Each of the pushing member 8 is connected to and driven by the aforementioned hydraulic driving mechanism. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the pushing member 8 acts in conjunction with the wall of the well to provide a guiding drive force, while the pushing member 8 is also capable of acting as a centralizer. The guide driving mechanism includes a first piston cylinder disposed in the first non-rotating body 2 and a second piston cylinder disposed in the second non-rotating body 3, the first piston cylinder and the second piston cylinder are connected by a connecting rod 6-1, and the second piston cylinder is adapted to drive the pushing member 8 to move. The connecting rod 6-1 is respectively hinged with the first piston cylinder and the second piston cylinder, one end of the second piston cylinder is connected to the connecting rod, and the other end of the second piston cylinder is connected to the pushing member. Specifically, a second piston cylinder is disposed in the second non-rotating body 3, the piston 6-6 disposed in the second piston cylinder is used to drive the pushing member 8. The second non-rotating body 3 is provided with a limited structure or a limited device (not shown) for limiting the range of movement of the pushing member 8, thereby the pushing member 8 can be moved radially within a defined range. In the process of guiding drive, the hydraulic pressure drives the piston 6-3 to move, thereby driving the slider 6-2 and the connecting rod 6-1 to move, and the connecting rod 6-1 pushes the slider 6-5 to move, thereby pushing the piston 6-6 to move, and the piston 6-6 drives the pushing member 8 to move radially outwardly and push against the well wall to produce a guiding drive force. For example, the guide driving mechanism can have three hydraulic driving mechanisms 6 and three pushing members 8. On the one hand, the three hydraulic driving mechanisms 6 can respectively generate a certain torque to the second non-rotating body 3 with respect to the steerable portion 4, and the sum of the torques generated by the three hydraulic driving mechanisms is the actual guide driving torque. On the other hand, the three pushing members can also generate radial forces separately, and these radial forces are also capable of generating a torque with respect to the steerable portion 4, and the sum of the torques acting on the steerable portion 4 forms the current guiding driving force.

What is advantageous to improve the build-up rate is that the hybrid rotary guiding device provided by the present embodiment can combine the advantages of the directional guidance and the push-oriented guidance, and the influence of the formation property on the build-up slope can be largely eliminated. Meanwhile, in the driving structure provided by the embodiment, the direction of the torque generated by the axial driving force generated in the single driving chain is consistent with the direction of the torque generated by the radial driving force, and the build-up slope is a superposition of the two, and thus provides a higher build slope.

For another, the present application also proposes a hybrid rotary guiding device, the hybrid rotary guiding device comprises :

a rotating shaft, the rotating shaft is used to drive a tool head to rotate, and the rotating shaft includes at least one steerable portion;

a first non-rotating body and a second non-rotating body, the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body are substantially in a non-rotating state in a circumferential direction thereof relative to the rotating shaft when the rotating shaft drives the tool head to rotate;

both inside of the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body are provided with piston cylinders; each one of the piston cylinder in the first non-rotating body and each one of the piston cylinder in the second non-rotating body are respectively hinged to both ends of a connecting rod; the piston cylinder disposed in the second non-rotating body is adapted to drive some pushing members to move between a first position and a second position, in the second position, the resultant force of the pushing members pushing against the well wall generates a first guiding force, and the resultant force of the connecting rods acting on the second non-rotating body generates a second guiding force.

Through the rotary guiding device proposed by the present application: On the one hand, the measurement control difficulty of the control system can be reduced, and the force applying member can realize the movement by using a common hydraulic driving method, in the direction control, the rotary guiding device in the present application can also independently control the direction of the guiding bit without being affected by the rotation of the drill pipe; On the other hand, the two non-rotating body based on the rotary guiding devices proposed by the present application can provide a larger range of selectable build-up rate in the hybrid guiding mode to meet different formation requirements.

The various embodiments in the specification are described in a progressive manner, and the same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other, and each embodiment focuses on differences from the other embodiments. Particularly, for the system embodiment, since it is basically similar to the method embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the description of the method embodiment.

The above description is only the embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the application. Various changes and modifications can be made to the present application by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalents, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and scope of the present application are intended to be included within the scope of the claims. 

1. A rotary guiding device, wherein comprising: a rotating shaft, the rotating shaft is used to drive a tool head to rotate, and the rotating shaft includes at least one steerable portion; a first non-rotating body and a second non-rotating body, the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body are substantially in a non-rotating state in a circumferential direction thereof relative to the rotating shaft when the rotating shaft drives the tool head to rotate; a guide driving mechanism, the guide driving mechanism is configured to connect the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body, the guide driving mechanism is adapted to generate a substantially axial driving force to change the relative direction between the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body, thereby changing the orientation of the tool head.
 2. The rotary guiding device of claim 1, wherein the steerable portion includes a universal transmission member or a flexible shaft.
 3. The rotary guiding device of claim 1, wherein the guide driving mechanism includes at least three hydraulic drive mechanisms which are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction.
 4. The rotary guiding device of claim 1, wherein the guide driving mechanism is further adapted to generate a substantially radial driving force to change the relative direction between the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body, thereby changing the orientation of the tool head.
 5. The rotary guiding device of claim 4, wherein the guide driving mechanism comprises at least three pushing members, each one of the pushing members is adapted to move in a radial direction of the rotating shaft to push against the wall of the well, thereby changing the orientation of the tool head.
 6. The rotary guiding device of claim 5, wherein the guide driving mechanism includes a first piston cylinder disposed in the first non-rotating body and a second piston cylinder disposed in the second non-rotating body, the first piston cylinder and the second piston cylinder are connected by a connecting rod, and the second piston cylinder is adapted to drive the pushing member to move.
 7. The rotary guiding device of claim 6, wherein the connecting rod is respectively hinged with the first piston cylinder and the second piston cylinder, one end of the second piston cylinder is connected to the connecting rod, and the other end of the second piston cylinder is connected to the pushing member.
 8. A hybrid rotary guiding device, the hybrid rotary guiding device, wherein comprising: a rotating shaft, the rotating shaft is used to drive a tool head to rotate, and the rotating shaft includes at least one steerable portion; a first non-rotating body and a second non-rotating body, the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body are substantially in a non-rotating state in a circumferential direction thereof relative to the rotating shaft when the rotating shaft drives the tool head to rotate; both inside of the first non-rotating body and the second non-rotating body are provided with piston cylinders; each one of the piston cylinder in the first non-rotating body and each one of the piston cylinder in the second non-rotating body are respectively hinged to both ends of a connecting rod; the piston cylinder disposed in the second non-rotating body is adapted to drive some pushing members to move between a first position and a second position, in the second position, the resultant force of the pushing members pushing against the well wall generates a first guiding force, and the resultant force of the connecting rods acting on the second non-rotating body generates a second guiding force. 